


Talk Dirty to Me

by Silverkleptofox



Category: Percy Jackson and related fandoms
Genre: Cute, Fluff, Injury, M/M, Not smut despite the title, Underworld headcanon, mission from hades, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 16:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7178690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverkleptofox/pseuds/Silverkleptofox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will's decision to forcibly tag along to one of Nico's errands for Hades goes horribly wrong and horribly right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Talk Dirty to Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MurkyMuse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MurkyMuse/gifts).



"Why are we underground, again?" Will asked for what felt like the fiftieth time that day. 

Nico huffed in annoyance. "Because we are searching this cave system for a ghost, Will, I've told you this a thousand times already." 

Will Solace was not a fan of being underground for long periods of time. Will was not a fan of staying inside for long periods of time. Will was not particularly a fan of any situation where he could not go outside or see the sun. (Or the moon- his auntie was pretty okay too.) Will couldn't use the few Apollo-given powers he had when was underground. He and Nico, however, had been underground for the past five hours looking for some restless spirit. 

Will found himself trying to remember why, exactly, he had insisted on accompanying Nico on this gods-forsaken errand from the lord of the underworld. Why did Hades care if Thanatos lost a spirit? Oh yeah, that's right. Because Hades was a total bean-counter. Will had discovered this after listening to Nico's stories about his apparently awkward father. 

Nevertheless, Hades had given his only the son the task of locating this wayward spirit, finding out what was wrong, and if necessary, sending the spirit to the underworld by force. Because guess what? Hades' son just so happened to also be the frickin' Ghost King.   
And Will's boyfriend.   
Which is how, Will supposed, he had ended up volunteering to go with Nico on this little errand. 

Which he didn't know would involve going into a cave system. 

"It shouldn't be much farther ahead." Nico said, breaking Will of his thoughts. Nico's voice was cool and flat, as if he were disinterestedly stating a fact. He talked like that often, especially when he told people about the "auras of death" surrounding them. Will had a feeling Nico did it just to mess with people. It was quite entertaining. 

"You said that an hour ago..." Will whined.

"Yeah well, spirits can move." Nico shrugged. "This one knows we're coming and is avoiding us."

"Then what's to stop it from just going through a wall or something? Like they do in movies?" 

"Well we're technically in my dad's realm, being underground. Underworld rules apply- no phasing through the earth. Besides, ghosts only do that topside because buildings get rebuilt. They're still following the path of here their walls used to be. You see..." Nico continued on about the workings of ghosts and what they could and could not do and the technicalities and such. Gods he was such a nerd, Will thought with a smile. He loved every second of it. 

"...stay here." 

Suddenly Nico's hand was on Will's arm, halting his tracks. 

"What is it?"

"This isn't a lost spirit. I think we're hunting an eidolon." Nico whispered in response. He kept his eyes focused on the path ahead, while his hand gripped his Stygian iron sword. 

"... What's an eidolon?" Will asked quietly. Nico's eyes flitted to Will, and then everything went dark. 

\-------------

"Will." 

He heard Nico's voice echoing softly.

"Will, wake up." 

His head hurt and he felt exhausted- waking up was not on his priority list.

"Will if you don't wake up I'm leaving you here because I literally cannot touch you right now."

Wait what? 

Will forced himself to turn over and push himself off the dirty cavern floor. He opened his eyes with a groan and looked for Nico- it was dark but Nico's flashlight was still working, throwing weak beams against the wall. Nico was silhouetted against the light, and Will could see that he was exhausted from the way he sat on the ground with his head and arms hanging between his knees. 

"What happened?" Will croaked out. 

"It was an eidolon- it's a type of phasm that possesses people. It got to you before I could get to it, so I had to..." Nico averted his eyes.

"You had to what?"

"Well, I had to do some 'underworld-y stuff'." He mumbled. "I had to, I couldn't use my sword or else you'd get hurt, and I had to get it out of you... And now my fingertips are fading again."

"... Oh Nico..." Will whispered. Damnit. If Will hadn't insisted on coming along, Nico probably would have been able to handle this monster himself without resorting to overusing his powers, he wouldn't be fading right now...

"Please don't be mad." Nico whispered. 

Will smiled and scooted closer to Nico, taking his wrists in hand. "Nico I'm not mad, you only had one option. Thank you for saving me. Now let me help you."

Nico nodded as Will concentrated on his boyfriend's translucent fingertips. He could tell from touching him that Nico was exhausted and just barely keeping himself awake. There were a few cuts and scrapes on his shoulders and knees and a gash on his forearm. Will tried to call on his healing ability but to no avail- they were too far fim the sun.

"I'm sorry, I can't do anything underground." Will choked. Could Nico walk all the way to the cave exit? Would Will be able to carry him if he was fading? He started rooting through his bag for ambrosia- no wait, Nico was immune to ambrosia after being overexposed. Will's mind was racing for what to do next when Nico spoke.

"Will, I need you to do me a favor." Nico sighed in resignation. Will immediately nodded. 

"Anything."

"I need you to dig a small hole." Nico replied. 

"...... What?" 

Nico shifted uncomfortably. "You know how water can heal Percy if he's in his father's domain?"

Will looked at Nico flatly. "Don't tell me..."

"Yeah. Same thing." Nico shrugged. "Except earth, and I have to be underground."

Will let out a breath of relief and dug his hands into the earth beneath them. "Okay, so how deep? Do you need me to mix it with anything?"

"Just enough to bury my fingers in." Nico replied. "I would do it myself, but... Y'know. I'd just go right through it right now..."

Will nodded and dug a little trench, which Nico placed his fingers in and let Will cover them up like a freshly potted plant. Will made sure not to mention the comparison- Nico wouldn't appreciate being compared to a plant.

It was a pretty weird experience, but then again, they were demigods. Their lives weren't exactly normal to begin with. 

Will watched as bits of dark, rich earth crawled up Nico's fingers and up under his sleeve. He could see the dirt clot into the gash on his forearm and form a scab over it. That had to be so unsanitary- Will was itching to pour antiseptic over it because it was dirt in a wound and everything he had learned about medicine said that was wrong but hey, Nico didn't exactly exist according to the laws of the universe, so he refrained. 

"When did you figure this out?" Will asked as the dirt did its work. 

"When we were bringing the statue to camp, actually. I got so bad that I turned completely transparent, and Reyna and Coach Hedge couldn't touch me to give me unicorn draught. So Hedge basically covered me in mud, and hey, it worked. He called it 'nature magic', but Reyna had a theory after seeing Percy heal in water. So we tested it out."

"You tested it out?"

"I rubbed graveyard dirt in a papercut." Nico blushed. He shook his hands free of the earth, and Will reached out to take a look. Nico's fingers were whole again, if a bit dirty. They seemed fine, even if they were shaking from exhaustion. 

"Let's get you back to camp." Will smiled as he put an arm under Nico's shoulder to help him up. "Are you going to pass out on me?"

"Not involuntarily, I don't think. I didn't shadow-travel at all. Just force a phasm out of a host and condemn it straight to Tartarus." 

"So what you're saying is probably, yes." Will quipped.

"Yep." Nico sighed. "But I think I can make it to the car first."

"Okay."

The trek to the cave entrance was a lot shorter than the journey in, since they weren't searching every nook and cranny for something and could head straight towards their goal. Jules-Albert was waiting for them in a sleek black Rolls Royce, and Will slid Nico into the backseat before getting in on the other side. 

Nico immediately flopped down to rest his head in Will's lap with a contented sigh. 

"Thanks for coming." Nico mumbled, already drifting off to sleep.

"Of course." Will replied. "Say, why didn't you tell me earlier that a bit of underworld earth could heal you? You wouldn't have had to spend so long in the infirmary."

Nico yawned and curled into Will's torso before succumbing to sleep. 

"Didn't wanna leave..."

**Author's Note:**

> I have this headcanon that dirt can heal Nico if he's within his father's jurisdiction, and that's why coach's 'nature magic' worked (and why Nico is always filthy). MurkyMuse (bless their soul) told me it made sense, and so bam! Here's a fic. Done.


End file.
